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Bird Bath Newport News VA

Local resource for Bird Bath in Newport News. Includes detailed information on local businesses that provide access to bird, birds, build, building, bath, house, birdbath, birdhouse, as well as advice and content on where to find supplies and information pertaining to building or purchasing a bird bath or bird house.

Build Your Own: Bird Bath Fountain

Birdbath and fountain: sound and motion make for special allure

by Pamela Conely A home-made garden sculpture at a fraction of the retail cost.

A couple of years ago, my husband, Dennis, and I decided we needed to replace the leaking birdbath in our front yard. At the same time, Dennis, who is a great believer in recycling, brought home a terra-cotta sewage pipe he found. It sat in his studio for several weeks and I kept teasing him about what he was going to do with it.

One day he came home with a bag of cement. He dug a hole in our rhododendron garden close to our bird feeder. Then he cemented the sewage pipe in place. The next day he went to the nursery and returned with graduating sizes of terra-cotta saucers, which he drilled holes in the center of. He began by placing the largest first and then putting the next saucer upside down, building up three tiers by alternating them and gluing them in place. At the top of the fountain he drilled a hole into a cement frog. The black dripper hose was brought up through the base and through each saucer, and finally through the top of the frog.

We have our drip system timer set to go on each evening. When it comes on, the frog fills the birdbath's first saucer; the water then drips down into the second and third saucer, creating a soft dripping sound that attracts the birds and squirrels for a drink.

The birdbath has been a great success. Living in the redwoods of California, I have seen chestnut-backed chickadee, da...

Build Your Own: Coffee Can Feeders

Three Feeders You Can Make From a Coffee Can

by Phillis L. Bellingham

We feed hundreds of birds both summer and winter at our cabin. Unfortunately, we do not visit the cabin as often during the winter as we do in the summer, and although we utilize numerous varieties of bird feeders, their capacity simply will not supply our beloved chickadees, woodpeckers, and jays when we're away.

I have finally hit upon an idea that helps solve the problem of insufficient feeders. My new feeders require a minimum of effort and expense, yet provide for many birds over a period of time.

Take a three-pound coffee can and with an old-fashioned beer can opener make three or four holes approx. one inch apart at the extreme bottom of the can. Don't push the tin inside each hole all the way down, but leave each hole partially blocked on the inside of the can. Otherwise sunflower seeds, which we use exclusively in this feeder, will spill onto the ground too easily.

Punch two small holes on opposite sides of the can so that a small length of string, rope, or chain can be pulled through and tied to a tree limb or other means of support. Make certain that the two holes are punched just below the bottom edge of the plastic lid that comes with the can.

Place the plastic lid on the filled can and run a piece of duct tape across the top, over the plastic lid and partially down each side. This helps to prevent chipmunks and squirrels from pushing the lid. off. We have added four of these feeders to our existing group and find that they are a most welcome way of keeping our birds fed during long absences from our cabin. Try it -- I think you will appreciate the results.

Easy Coffee Can Feeder

by Benjamin Burtt

Illustration by Sally Onopa.

One of the easiest feeders to make is constructed from a coffee can with a snap-on plastic lid. Cut off the bottom and snap a lid on that end. Cut a 11/4-inch hole in each lid, a bit off center near the edge. Pass a wire through the can before snapping on the lids, and hang it from a branch. An alternative is to put a bolt through the top surface of the can and fasten the wire to it. This feeder can be filled with sunflower seeds or Niger seed right up to the hole. Punch a small hole in the can near each end at the bottom so water will drain out if any gets through the entrances.

The transparent lids make the food obvious to the birds. The interior is so bright that they are not reluctant to enter. A chickadee will fly to the opening and grip the plastic with its toes. It may reach in for a seed or go all the way inside.

In typical chickadee fashion, the seed is taken to a nearby branch, where it is held in the bird's toes and opened with its bill. If squirrels get to the coffee can feeder, they will gnaw their way in. However, it does keep jays and other large birds from getting to the food. If squirrels are a problem, the feeder can be suspended from a wire on which you have strung a number of spools...

Build Your Own: Easy Platform Feeder

Attract Birds and Protect Seed With a Simple and Effective Feeder Design

by Benjamin Burtt

The more places birds can feed in your yard, the more you will see at one time. So having lots of small feeders on posts or hanging from a wire or tree is fine. Above all though, you should have one feeder that has a very large floor area. Generally, you will need to have it made to your specifications or construct it yourself. Few stores carry a feeder that has a floor area of two square feet or more. Mine is three feet on a side, so its area is nine square feet. The food there and the birds feeding are visible to others flying by. This helps bring in the birds. The large area provides "elbow room" for many to feed at the same time. A very simple and effective feeder can be constructed, as illustrated. Nail four pieces of 1 x 1-1/2-inch wood to form a square. Install diagonal braces from corner to corner. Staple a piece of metal window screening on the frame to serve as a floor.

The screening allows rain and melted snow to pass through without soaking the seed too much. The floor can be made of wood instead, but then quarter-inch holes should be provided for drainage. With a screening floor, it is lightweight but strong. The edges of the frame keep the seed from blowing away. Such a feeder must be cleared of snow, but birds are not afraid to use it. You may make a shelter over one end as shown by the dotted lines, but do leave at least half of the floor uncovered.

Local resource for woodpecker birdhouses in Newport News, VA. Includes detailed information on local businesses that provide access to woodpecker birdhouses, birdhouses, bird feeders, bird house plans, and bird house designs, as well as advice and content on bird house building, attracting birds, and bird house kids.